


Virchow's Legacy

by wubbles



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Buffy Wishverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25810237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wubbles/pseuds/wubbles
Summary: No slayer? Nothing can stop the vampire plague. Except holy water, UV light, cremation, and electricity.
Kudos: 3





	1. Morbidity and Mortality

Dr. Lewin walked into the mortuary in silence. His assistant stood behind him, as he looked up and muttered the ancient words. "Baruch dayan emet". What he was about to do was desecration, but no less holy for that. It was time to learn what had killed the daughter of one of the witnesses to his ketuba, so that others could be saved.

"Patient: Willow Rosenberg, of blessed memory".

He retraced the sheet. Odd, the bite marks on the neck should have created far more bleeding than was recorded on admission. And the usual lividity was absent, a sign of interference with coagulation. Toxicology would have to come back, to be sure, but Willow had been described by witnesses as seeming out of sorts as she walked down the alley behind the Bronze. The absence of self defense wounds on the hands showed that this was an usual attack, one where the victim would have to be rather impaired or usually unsuspecting.

Organs were normal, except for a pronounced lack of blood volume. And the spleen was enlarged. The hospital records had recorded elevated lymphocytes and impaired cerebral reflexes almost as though an infection had set in subsequent to the bite. Not unexpected. Mouths were dirty. But cerebral? Almost like rabies. Naturally she'd been vaccinated and given rabies immunoglobin on admission, as was procedure for any animal bite. But the lost blood and rapid decline?

No, transfusions had been administered and the bleeding stopped through some damn fast surgery. The cause of death was clearly the subsequent infection, unlike some of the other victims. Time for some biopsies to go to his old friend. And a few telephone calls.

"Pandemic capable rabies?" Anthony said. "Well, I can look for any similar viruses, but it's very unlikely. And with the patients mostly ending up dead there isn't going to be onward transmission. Plus someone with rabies isn't going to develop a plan to bite: they're rather harmless and tragically aware of their own demise. I'll run your samples against the Lyssavirus primers and culture, but I don't expect much".

So things were until the next week.

On Tuesday the groundskeeper at the one cemetery in Sunnyvale reported vandalism of a three days old grave: clear signs of disinterment. Body snatching was ancient, but rarely practiced. However, the name of the victim spurred a police sergeant to call Dr. Lewin.

"No, he wasn't autopsied. Religious objection. He was taken to the burial society, who would have washed the body, wrapped it in linen, and delivered it the next day to the graveyard. Yeah, it was a similar story: attack, hospital visit, similar infections. No, you're not wrong to think that way, but while I've got the authority to mandate cremation there's got to be evidence and it's best we do it with the cooperation of the priest, the rabbi, and the ministers. Moral authority. If I'm hassling grieving parents, I've failed."

Dr. Lewin hung up the phone. No one would believe him nationally, but this town was more familiar with things that went bump in the night than others. That school librarian might be an Anglican, but his collection of rare editions had earned him the friendship of some of the more scholarly members of the congregation. Time to make some calls.

Rupert Giles picked up the phone. "Rupert? Yes, this Dr. Lewin, the medical examiner. I need your assistance in a rather delicate matter. We've seen an uptick in strange deaths, and I'm considering ordering some rather extreme measures to control what may be a pandemic."

Rupert was ready to deny everything. "What makes you think I'll be of any help?. I study mystery wisdom, not anything real. I'm just a school librarian."

"Rupert, we've got viral culture and RNA sequences confirming that a novel lyssavirus killed the daughter of one of my closest friends. He was the best man at my wedding. I'm going to look him in the eye this Sunday when I drop off some food, and I want to be able to tell him that I've done everything I can to ensure no one else dies this way. I've lived in this town long enough to know that there are influences here not found elsewhere. Mostly we just ignore them. But when a virus found in Romania north of the Carpatians in bats shows up in California, I'm no moron. I know you were working with Willow on things that weren't exactly kosher."

"It wasn't anything like your implying."

"Rupert, I'm not saying that you abused your position in anyway. I'm saying you were teaching her some things outside the curriculum, that let her find Jonathan after we spotted that suicide note. And Xander? He's come to my family practice more than once with bruises on his knuckles and cuts on his face. Either he's the star boxer for our town, or he's punching things that punch back. I know you've been involved with both of them. I've got professional obligations to STFU, but I've got the public to protect"

Rupert sighed inwardly. His report to the Watchers would have to emphasize that discovery was inevitable in the modern age, and with it the reality that many more would attempt to use the destructive powers of demonology. He'd have to make the best of what was quickly becoming a bad situation. 

"Ok, come over to my house. 13 Pemscott lane. I'll be ready at 6. And bring Willow's parents. They deserve to know what their daughter did for us."

A meeting of a rather different sort was taking place in an abandoned, condemned structure on the outskirts of town. Half-buried by a landslide, it was the perfect refuge for the creatures of the night.

"Willow Rosenberg is lost to us. The medical examiner is unlikely to leave the corpse in a fit state for revival. We have two possibilities: either he knows what he is seeing, or he does not. In either case our ability to recruit is hampered if he takes an interest. In the future recruitment must involve transportation of the bodies to locations where we may safeguard them. This will increase scrutiny and fear, but we have no alternative".

"Furthermore our feeding is too concentrated on the Bronze. While a convenient location, it's a pattern that won't escape notice. We're going to have to come up with something else. This will slow our progress, but our victory over the humans is inevitable."  
The Master looked at his accomplices. Some were ancient and powerful in their own right, others recently turned and hand selected for the qualities they had possessed when alive. Together with the magic that had prevented close scrutiny of Sunnyvale, they would create the foothold for the subjugation of the humans.


	2. Condolences

Rupert's apartment was mostly given over to books. A comfortable shared space with a table was his dining room, sitting room, workshop, and place of entertainment, particularly when the patio was too dangerous to use. The eccentric architect had created an entirely unnecessarily loft, a bed platform whose defensive attributes Rupert appreciated.

As he fretted over the proper arrangement of chairs around the table, the doorbell rang. He walked over and peered out the peephole, seeing a distraught couple. 

“My deepest condolences on the loss of your child. She was one of the most talented students I've worked with, and her genuine compassion was visible to all. But please come in.”

Ira dabbed at the corner of his eye, while Shelia sobbed. “Larry said that you had something to tell us about our daughter, and then didn't tell us much else. It's been so hard, no one wants to tell us anything about why. The police just keep passing us along from one person to the next. And now Larry said that she may have to be cremated ” Her voice rose in horror at the end.

“ God knows we weren't the most attentive parents, but we loved her. We cared for her. We were there every step of the way from when she was a baby to when she was in high school. And now she's gone, gone gone ” Sobbing, she buried her face against her husband's shirt, his arms comforting her.

She looked up at Rupert. “Will you help us? Will you let us know what's going on.” Rupert looked at the pain on her face and spoke quietly. “Yes. ” As he spoke another car pulled up, and Larry emerged, grim and determined. He strode up the steps. “ Ira, Shelia. Let's go inside. Rupert has something important for all of us.”

 _Vampyre_ sat on the desk, the aged leather binding and browning parchment. Giles opened it reverently. “As you know Sunnyvale is not like most other towns. Sunnyvale has a gateway to the world of demons. For months I and your daughter, and a few other students have been battling to control the vampires. Your daughter was one of the most expert researchers I knew. ” Rupert raised his head and looked Shelia and Ira in the eye. “Your daughter died fighting to protect all of us. Her sacrifice was not in vain.”

Shelia looked shocked. Ira glanced at Larry, who spoke. “It's all true. Well, at least the vampire part. Turns out that rabies has a mutant brother that invites demons into the corpses of its victims. Giles and I have been comparing notes, and we've definitely got a serious situation on our hands.” 

Giles pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. “The good news is you will be able to bury your daughter tomorrow. Larry has already quietly talked to the undertakers and the burial society, and the necessary arrangements. Thankfully the vampire virus can be stopped via magical means as well, so cremation was not necessary.”

“The question for you is, do you want to play a part in avenging your daughter's death? We can't go to the authorities: Sunnyvale attracts all manner of people with their own nefarious plans, some quite well established. And the Slayer I was hoping would move here is in Cleveland instead.”

Shelia spoke. “I'm a psychologist. I don't have magic spells or wonder drugs. I didn't go to medical school; I went to grad school and worked with soldiers with PTSD. I don't know what I can do. ” Rupert spoke. “And I'm afraid this war will be no less traumatic. Imagine seeing the demon in someone you love, and having to strike them down or die yourself. We need you.”

Shelia looked glum and nodded. Ira spoke “I don't know what good a lawyer's going to do you. But if you need a place to lie low, or some friends coming to town who would appreciate a place without questions being asked to crash, my house works. And if the cops ever pull you over, here's my card. Follow the script, call my number, and the other part of my practice will get you out."

Later that evening Johnny Stanowski, the cornerback for the football team, walked down the ally behind the Bronze. He'd parked his convertible in the lot by the train tracks, and as he sauntered over to start his car, Darla waved at him, and smiled.

“Hello handsome ” Darla walked over. “You wouldn't mind giving a pretty girl a ridw home? ”

He waved her over, and started the car. “ Where you live? ”  
“Oh, up La Paterita Lane.”  
“I've never seen you before. You in high school here?”  
“Oh I'm at the Catholic school. Just moved to town.”  


Larry steered his car up the winding road, and came to a barely marked driveway. “ Oh you can stop here and I'll walk up the hill.” “You sure? I can drive you up to the top. Doesn't bother me.” Darla nodded. Larry parked by the abandoned house at the top, and Darla bent toward him eyes enticing. “Thanks so much for the drive.” Larry turned toward her and shut his eyes, then was surprised by two strong arms lifting him out of the car. He screamed as fangs bit deep into his neck. 

**Author's Note:**

> Lyssaviruses are real, and many transmitted by bats. In this work, they have a magical interaction that enables them to trigger the transformation into a vampire by calling a demon in. Absent that they simply kill their victim.


End file.
